Subpar

I have a few questions about selling a car to a buyer out of state. I live in Michigan, potential buyer is from California. There is a small amount owed on the vehicle. What are the steps or process's that I need to go through, to make this happen?

Can I just pay off the existing loan, sign over my Michigan title, take insurance off, and be done with it? Or, is it more complicated? Like, what am I suppose to do with my Michigan plate that is still on the car? Any feedback would be appreciated.

V68Sweep

I would say that it would probably be best for you to contact your insurance company and ask them all of those questions.

CranMaro99

iTrader: (10)

Don't ask here; every state has slightly different procedures.

Go on your state DOL website and it should have all the major information/steps/legalities there.

Crispy

iTrader: (6)

The first thing to take care of is the lien satisfaction. After that, a level of trust is needed between the you and the buyer. I'm assuming you will be using the money from the buyer to pay off the loan, right?

I did this once and what we did was draft up a contract for purchase stating both of our intentions and laying out the steps for purchase. The buyer was in state, it shouldnt make a difference what state the buyer is in, just make sure the lien gets satisfied, and you have signed paperwork to protect yourselves.

The buyers state may or may not accept a title branded with a lien on it even with an original lien satisfaction document, the buyer needs to find that out with their local dmv as that can slow down the transaction if they need a clear and free title.

If you have any more questions let me know.

udienow

iTrader: (18)

I bought a car out of state that had a lien on it. Im from IL car was in TX.

Basically, as the above poster said, a level of trust is needed between the buyer and seller. What I did in my case is we signed a piece of paper saying I bought the car. I drove the car home just the way it sat (with the old owners plates). The seller then took the money I paid him, paid off what he owed, and the bank released the title to him. Once he got his title from the bank, he signed it and sent it over to me (this actually took a few weeks but thats why I had his plates still). Once I got the title the car was then mine. I registered it and got my own plates. I agreed with the seller to keep one of the Texas plates for kicks and I mailed him the other plate back. If you do not care for your plates, I think you can just toss them or keep em in your room for memories if you want.

Now I am sure this isn't the best way to do it, but everything worked fine with how I did it.

JohnS Z28

iTrader: (1)

Go wolverines.
I THINK you can just transfer your plate to a different vehicle, or let them sit around until you buy a different one.

parks450

iTrader: (17)

The bank has to sign off on the title, title should say their isba lein on it still. I sold a quad like that.

SOMbitch

iTrader: (8)

In NC the bank physically holds the title until the loan is paid off....

Subpar

Thanks for all the input. I guess I have only one concern. The buyer is out of state. I've read several things stating that the buyer and seller, both need to go to the DMW and fill out paperwork for title transfer. This is where the buyer is suppose to pay taxes and title transfer fees. Is this an issue?, or can the buyer just bring the title back to his/her state and not worry about paying taxes in the seller's state? That seems like the seller's state, in my case Michigan, wouldn't be too happy with not getting the state tax from the sell.

FYI, I have the title and getting the lien payed off is the least of my worries. It's more about the title/registration issues.